R32 Rb25De

[Michael...]

ok

soo iv brought a R32 witch has the factory non turbo manuel RB25, (im a P plater)

its an absolute shit box..... but its the car iv always wanted,

I brought it a few months ago and its just been sitting, I also have a vy commodore

I drive as a daily,

The aim is to make the r32 as reliable as possible soo I can sell the commodore

and use the r32 as a daily. I have had other imports before and i know how unreliable they are

but thats half the fun fixing them, so I thought id get a head start and eliminate a few potential problems before

I sell the commodore.

what things should I be replacing?

im not looking at any ''power gains'' because lets face it, its naturally aspirated and has probably

been flogged its whole life.

I was also looking at doing a 5 stud and brake conversion off a turbo car.

do i have to get the parts off another r32 (turbo) or?

i only ask becuase i can get a whole nissan 300zx z32 cheap, I think the brake calipers are the same but what about the rest?

anyway there are probably 100 other questions I have and im sure I could have found the answers to the ones iv asked.

but i had to introduce myself some how.

any advise is appreciated!

cheers Michael

[mad082]

as for making the 32 more reliable, start by replacing the thermostat, make sure the 100,000km service was done and if getting close to 200,000kms then do it again. pull the radiator out and get it tested, or simply buy a new one off ebay. that will take care of any possible cooling issues you may have. then just do the usual oil changes. it shouldn't be any less reliable than any other car (import or not) of a similar age and condition.

[bubba]

What mad082 said and I will just throw this out there (because I'm heavily biased), you have the perfect head for an RB30 twincam conversion..

AFAIK z32 rotors are the same size but not sure about caliper bolt pattern, you should be able to find some 32gtst brakes cheap as people tend to upgrade them to 33gtst/32gtr. Never done a 4-5 stud conversion so can't comment any further.

[Truffles]

Mad hit the nail on the head.

Just because it's a Skyline doesn't make it unreliable. It's a 20+ year old car, so you're going to assume things needs replacing.

People say they're unreliable because idiots buy them, flog the shit out of it without looking after it and complain when they break. Doesn't matter what the car is, but if you run it hard without taking the necessary precautions; it breaks.

First of all; don't take your speedo as gospel. They're known to be woundback/swapped to a lower km cluster. If there's a 100,000km service sticker with Japanese on it or residue from one on the front of your cam cover, it means it had the 100,000km service in Japan. So use that as a reference (look at the compliance plate. If it was imported in 1997 and it had a 100,000km service in japan then having 120,000km on the cluster in 2012 is farfetched).

Since it's a non-turbo, reliability is less of an issue as the car won't be making as much power and there aren't as many parts to maintain.

Inspect/change what mad said and perhaps check over all of your hoses/fittings/vacuum lines.

[89CAL]

Mad hit the nail on the head.

Just because it's a Skyline doesn't make it unreliable. It's a 20+ year old car, so you're going to assume things needs replacing.

People say they're unreliable because idiots buy them, flog the shit out of it without looking after it and complain when they break. Doesn't matter what the car is, but if you run it hard without taking the necessary precautions; it breaks.

First of all; don't take your speedo as gospel. They're known to be woundback/swapped to a lower km cluster. If there's a 100,000km service sticker with Japanese on it or residue from one on the front of your cam cover, it means it had the 100,000km service in Japan. So use that as a reference (look at the compliance plate. If it was imported in 1997 and it had a 100,000km service in japan then having 120,000km on the cluster in 2012 is farfetched).

Since it's a non-turbo, reliability is less of an issue as the car won't be making as much power and there aren't as many parts to maintain.

Inspect/change what mad said and perhaps check over all of your hoses/fittings/vacuum lines.

Exactaly. My First car was a VL Calais, and it had alot of electrical faults up till when i sold it. My R33 on the other hand, has been so much more reliable. It all comes down to how the last person treated it and the condition of the parts. Best advice I have, is fix stuff before it breaks. If I notice anything even a little bit dodgy on my car I replace it straight away. It saves you in the long run

But as above, Make sure its had a 100,000km service done and unless you know for sure (or have already done so) give it a good service. Im talking spark plugs, engine oil, gearbox oil, diff oil and go over it to find any other problems

[Michael...]

as for making the 32 more reliable, start by replacing the thermostat, make sure the 100,000km service was done and if getting close to 200,000kms then do it again. pull the radiator out and get it tested, or simply buy a new one off ebay. that will take care of any possible cooling issues you may have. then just do the usual oil changes. it shouldn't be any less reliable than any other car (import or not) of a similar age and condition.

ok, yeah I had thought of replacing the radiator with one of the 42mm alloy ones on ebay, at first I didnt think much of them because they were so cheap but from

what iv heard locally they arnt to bad.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/42mm-Race-aluminum-radiator-skyline-R32-GTS-GTR-/290649535547?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item43ac0ff43b

^^^ the radiator im referring to......

and id may aswell replace the hoses at the same time...

as for the thermostat is it worth buying a 'nismo low temp''???

parts like these i dont mind spending a little bit extra on.

What mad082 said and I will just throw this out there (because I'm heavily biased), you have the perfect head for an RB30 twincam conversion..

AFAIK z32 rotors are the same size but not sure about caliper bolt pattern, you should be able to find some 32gtst brakes cheap as people tend to upgrade them to 33gtst/32gtr. Never done a 4-5 stud conversion so can't comment any further.

haha yer iv read that somewhere before, because its non vct?

Mad hit the nail on the head.

Just because it's a Skyline doesn't make it unreliable. It's a 20+ year old car, so you're going to assume things needs replacing.

People say they're unreliable because idiots buy them, flog the shit out of it without looking after it and complain when they break. Doesn't matter what the car is, but if you run it hard without taking the necessary precautions; it breaks.

First of all; don't take your speedo as gospel. They're known to be woundback/swapped to a lower km cluster. If there's a 100,000km service sticker with Japanese on it or residue from one on the front of your cam cover, it means it had the 100,000km service in Japan. So use that as a reference (look at the compliance plate. If it was imported in 1997 and it had a 100,000km service in japan then having 120,000km on the cluster in 2012 is farfetched).

Since it's a non-turbo, reliability is less of an issue as the car won't be making as much power and there aren't as many parts to maintain.

Inspect/change what mad said and perhaps check over all of your hoses/fittings/vacuum lines.

yer the Ks on mine are clearly not genuine, and it does have the 100,000km service sticker on cam cover... but i probably should look at doing it again, i know the person i brought it from had not only neglected it

but flogged it, but the motor still sounds and drives strong tho, I guess.

Just for the record, im not just some goon that brought a skyline because its a skyline, i have a general interest in nissan imports

and work in the automotive industry and consider my r32 to be a hobbie......

[mad082]

i skimmed over that last posted so there is probably other stuff i may be able to help with, but too lazy, LOL. i mainly wanted to answer your question about the low temp nismo thermostat. so in answer to your question as to whether to go with the nismo item, i would have to say a big fat NO, especially for a NA that is going to be driven on a daily basis. run with the standard temp item.

[bubba]

haha yer iv read that somewhere before, because its non vct?

Because along with the RB26 head, they are a direct bolt on to a 30 block with no mods required

Oh and +1 to NOT using a Nismo low-temp thermostat.